Type-writing machine.



A. T. BRO 1\. TYPE WRITING MACHINE. -APPLIOATION FILED APR. 25, 1906.

Patented Dec.28,1909.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

INVENTOR. C/T

\JMM

/ ATTORNEY.

A. T. BROWN.

TYPE WRITINGVMACHINE. APPLICATION FILED APE. 25,1906.

PatentediDac. 28, 1909.

' 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

INVENTOR.

WITNESSES.-

r r ATTORNEY.

' ALEXANDER 1 BROWN, or SYRACUSE, NEW YORK. 7

YPE-WRITING MiicHIivE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed April 25, 1906. Serial No. 3 1t3',604.

Patac Dea 2s, 1909.

To all whom 'it mag/concern: Y

Be it known that I, ALEXANDER T. BROWN, citizen of the United States, and resident of Syracuse, in the countyof Onondaga and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Type- Writing Machines, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relatesto typewriting machines and it has for its principal object to provide an improved construction of paper carriage for-such machines.

My invention consistsin certain features of construction and. combinations and arrangements of parts, all of which will be fully set forth herein andparticularly pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, F igure 1 is a front elevation of the upper art of a typewritin machinehaving m invention embodied t erein. Fig. 2 is a le t hand side elevation of the same, parts being shown in section on a plane'just insidethe left hand end piece ofthe carriagetruck. 'Fig. 3 is a front elevation of the carriage showing the platen frame in a position it occupies when laced in the ma chine. Fig- 4 is a view o the left hand end piece of the carriage truck as seen from the right. Fig. 5 is a view of the right hand "-end piece of the platen frame as seen from the right. Fig. 6 is a fragmentaryview' of frame as seen from the front.

the right hand end of the carriage and platen "In most of the views parts have been shown in section or broken away and parts have been omitted venient.

Some of the as has been found" confeatures of my invention are more especially applicable to front strike" typewriters and I have accordingly shown said invention applied to a machine of'that sort. The machine parts ofwhich are shown in the drawings, comprisesa topplate 1 supported by posts 2. Two standards 3,r'ising from the top plate 1, having their upper ends inclined downward and toward the front of the machine at an angle of approximately 45. The carriage is supporte by a single stationary rail 4 that is grooved at its oppo-' site edges to form race-ways in which run anti-friction balls or rollers 5 that coeperate with race-ways formed in an u per or rear carriage rail 6 and a lower or orward car}.

riage rail 7 The rail at lies on the inclined ends of the standardsB to which it may be secured in any suitable manner as by means TOFFEE] of screws 8. y The two railsG and 7 each extend nearly to the middle of thetruck so that said ,two rails together almost cover up the stationary rail 4. The carriage truck has a left-hand end piece 9 and a right-hand suitable construction but I prefer to make them 'hollow as shown in Fig. 1, where the end piece 9 is shown broken and in section. In addition to being connected together by the rails 6 and 7 the end pieces 9 and 10 are also connected at their upper rear ends by a rod or shaft 12. Any suitable means may be provided for propelling the carriage across the machine and any suitable escapeinent mechanism or other ste shy-step feed mechanism may. be provided or-controlling its motion.

The cylindrical platen 13 may be of any suitable or usual construction and said'platen is provided with a shaft 14' that extends beyond the ends of the platen andhas the usual finger wheels .15 mountedv thereon.

The platen shaft 14 is mounted in-a platen frame that comprises a left-hand. end piece 16 .and a right hand end piece 17, said end pieces being connected together by a lower frame bar 18 and an up er frame loar 19. The end pieces 16 and 1 formed witlrhubs 20 and21, respectively,

in which the. platen shaft-14 is journaled are provided or The rod :19 is secured in suitable openingsgated hubs or sleeves 22lan d 23 in which in theup'per ends of theend piecesIG andj 17 and the rod 18 .alsopassesthrough elon.-

said rod is secured by pins, 24 passing "through: the hubs and thelrod. Endwise f motion of the shaft 14: inzthe platcnfrmne I in one direction is prevented by a hub 25 which forms part of the means whereby the left handend of the platen is secured to the shaft, said, hub being'secured to the shaft by a set screw 26 threaded through the hub I v i i and bearing against the shaft; ,The end of thehub 25 bears against the endflofthe. hub 20 of the end piece 16- and a similar hub on the ri ht hand end of the platen bears a its on against the end of the hub 21. I u

hub 23 thereof upward and toward the rear of the machine an arm 28 from which there projects a pin 29 which, when the platen frame is in position, lies in a notch in the upper edge of a block or projection 30 that is secured by screws 31 to the inner face of the right hand end piece 10 of the'carriage. The construction is such that the platen frame may be placed in position on the machine by holding said frame in about the position shown in Fig. 3, inserting the pin 26 into the hole 27 by a longitudinal movement of the platen frame and then lowering the right hand end of the platen frame until the.pin 29 drops into the notch in the block 30. The platen frame then drops by its own weight about the pins 26 and 29 as a pivot until the shaft 14 falls into notches 32 (Fig. 4) formed in the upper edges of the forwardly projecting parts of the end pieces 9 and 10. It will be perceived that the construction is such that the platen frame may be tilted about the pins 26 and 29 as a pivot into the position indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 2 without detaching the platen frame from the machine. The upward and rear ward motion of the platen frame in this tilting action is limited by a pin 33 that projects from the left hand end piece 16 of the platen frame into a slot 34 (Fig. 4) formed in the inner face of the left-hand end piece 9 of the carriage. As indicated in Fig. 1 this slot 34 passes entirely through the inner wall of the hollow end piece; but the slot may be ojlie uvise constructed ifdesired. It will also be" obvious that any other suitable means may be provided for limiting the backward motion of the platen frame about its pivots. The principal purpose of this tilting motion of the platen frame is for convenenee in making erasures.

Most front strike typewriters have a ribbon guide that conducts a ribbon across the printing point and in the present construction such a guide is shown. This ribbon guide is designated by the numeral and is of the sort known as a ribbon vibrator, so that its normal position is below the writing line, the position of which is indicated in Fig. l by the letter A. The ribbon vibrator 35, shown in the present instance has an ink ribbon 3G guided therethrough and said vibrator, as it moves up and down, is guided by a vibrator guide 37 which is secured by a screw 38 to the front face of an upwardly projecting portion 39 of the top plate'1. It has been thought unnecessary to fully show and describe these parts as they form no part of the present invention. The position of these parts, or of the parts corresponding thereto, however, in this and in most other front strike typewriters is such that said parts stand in the way of making erasures so that in order to erase the last letter written, it has been usual for the operator either to feed the paper upward by turning the platen or else to more the carriage to the right or to the left in order to get the matter to be erased away from the ribbon vibrator. This necessitates a readjustment of the platen or of the carriage after the erasure is made and consumes time. By the use of the present invention this disarrangement of the parts is obviated. The operatormerely tilts the platen frame from the position shown in full lines in Fig. '2 up to the position shown in broken lines in said fig ure, in which latter position of the parts the.

line of writing is so far removed from the ribbon mechanism that said mechanism does not interfere with theoperation of erasing. In Fig. 2 the normal position of the writing line is indicated by the arrow .40 and th. tilted position of said writing'line is indicated by the arrow tl. The platen frame may be tilted by grasping any part thereof but I prefer to flatten the uppelends of the end pieces 16 and 17 as indicated at 42.

This flattened part maybe roughened, if desired, to furnish a firm hold for one hand of the operator, the erasing being done with I k the other hand.

Any suitable line spacing mechanism may be provided. I have here shown a line space ratchet wheel 43 having ratchet teeth formed on the right hand face thereof. These ratchetteeth are engaged by adetent roller 44 rotatably mounted on a pin 45 that passes through a suitably formed and bent spring plate 46 that is secured at its ends to the inner face of the right hand end piece 17 of the platen frame. This spring plate 46 issubstantially semi-circular, the roller 4st being mounted thereon in position to engage the ratchet teeth of the wheel 43 and being pressed into engagement with said teeth by the resiliency of the spring plate. The line space mechanism comprises a dog 47 consisting of the inner end of a spring pressed plunger 48 mounted in a barrel 49 which is rigidly mounted on a shaft 50 that is journaled in the right hand end piece 10 of the carriage, said shaft passing through said end piece in a direction inclined downward toward the back of the machine as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 2. The forward end of the .sha ft 50 eXtends toward the front of the machine and is bent downwardly out of; line with the portion of said shaft that lies withinthe end piece 10, so

that said forwardly extending part of the shaft serves as a line space lever. The dog 47 is normally out of engagement with the teeth of the ratchet wheel 4L3, so that said dog does not interfere either with the tilting of the platen frame or with its removal from the machine; but when the shaft 50 is rocked said dogengages the teeth of the ratchet wheel and turns the platen. In order to avoid interfering with the action of this dog and the ratchet wheel the arm'28 that carries the pivot pin 29 stands nearer the middle of theinachine than the end piece 17 of the platen frame and curves backward and upward below and behind the platen to the point at which the pin 29 is mounted.

The pivot pins 26 and 29 stand behind the platen, so that when the platen frame is tilted about said pivot pins, the front face of he platen is elevated as indicated in Fig. 2.

Various changes may be in the details of construction and arrangements without departing from my invention.

\Vhat I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:- f

1. In alty'pewriting machine, the combination of a carriage truck, a platen frame, a platen having a shaft journaled in said platen frame, a. ivot'for said platen frame seated in a'notci or open" slot in said carriage truck back of the platen, said truck haying also aii' open notch or slot in which said platen axle normally rests.

2. In afront-strike typewriting machine, the combination of a platen having the printing line at the front thereof and having a shaft, a p laten framefa carriage truck, and a pivotal, detachable connection between said platen frame and said truck adapted to allow said platen frame to be tilted about a center that is fixed with relation to the truck to raise the platen above its printingposition, said shaft normally rest} ing on said truck and limiting the down iting the'downward tilting motion of, said platen frame.

at. In a frontstrike typewriting machine, the combination of a platen, aplat'en frame, a carriage truck, means for pivotally connecting one end of said platen frame with said truck, said means comprisirig a pivot pin working in a. hole, means comprising-a pivot pin working 'ina notch for pi'votally connecting the other end of said platen frame with said truck, and means forlimiting the up and downtilting motionofsaid platen frame about said pivot pins, the construction being so constructed that the platen frame may be tilted upabove its printing position, and so that the platen frame may be detached from the truck by first lifting the end thereof that is mounted by'the pin and notch, and then moving said frame longitudinally to withdraw the other pin from its hole."

5. In a frontstrike typewriting machine,

the combination of a platen, a platen frame,

a carriagetruck, and a detachable pivotal connection between said platen frame and said truck comprising, at one end, a pivot in working in a hole and a stop pin working in a slot, and at the other end a pivot pin working in a notch.

6. Ina front-strike typewriting machine, the combination of a platen having a shaft, 21. platen frame, a carrla e truck having end ieces, and means wherehy said platen frame is detachably and pivotally secured to said truck comprising lvot pin projecting from i the ends of said p aten frame,a hole in one 'of said end pieces for one of said pins, a notched part 'on the other of said endpieces' for the other of said pins, and notches in said end pieces in which said platen shaft normallyrests.

7. In a typewriting machine, the combination of a platen frame, a carriage truck,

and means whereby said platen frameis de-v tachably mounted onjsaid truck, said means at one end comprising a pin received in a hole, said pin being fixed to the platen frame and the hole being formed in a fixed part of the truck, and said means at the other end comprising a pin fixed to the platen frame and lying in a notch formed in a fixed part of the truck; the construction being such that the platen frame may be detached from the truck by first lifting that end of the platen frame near the notch in order to disengage the pin therefrom and by then moving the platen frame endwise to disengage the other pin from the hole.

8: In a typewriting machine,;the combination of a platen frame, a platen rotatable therein, a carriage truck and pivotal counections between said frame and truck such that said frame normally maintains said ,platen in printing position bntis adapted at all times to be swung up manually to move the platen to non-printing position, said platen havi ng a pin and slot connection with said platen frame whereby said. platen may moval or unlatching of parts.

be removed without any preliminary rev 9. In a front-strike typewriting machine, 1 Without any preliminary removal or un- 10" the combination of a platen frame, a carlatching of parts.

riage truck, and means whereby said platen Signed at Syracuse, in the county of frame is detachably mounted on said truck, Onondaga, and State of New York, this 23d said ineans comprising at each end a pinin day of April, A. D. 1906.

a suitable aperture in a rigid part of the ALEXANDER '1. BROWN. truck, and said aperture at one end being an Witnesses: open notch, whereby the platen frame is held S. DAVIS,

1n position by gravity but may be removed R. ARONSON. 

